Upsocl
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Friday 20 August 2021 14:20:10 GMT
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![“The reason it’s so important to talk right now is because we see what the other option is,” says Adam Kelwick, whose photo went viral after he was seen hugging a far-right rioter outside his mosque. About 50 people turned up to a far-right rally outside Abdullah Quilliam mosque in Liverpool, the oldest mosque in the country, on Friday. Hundreds more turned up to support the mosque. The rally occurred as violent far-right riots erupted across the country after the murder of three girls in nearby Southport. The rioting was fuelled by online misinformation about the perpetrator – including claims that he was a Muslim, motivated by Islam and that he was an undocumented migrant who had recently arrived by boat. “In my community, many people have decided it’s safer inside the walls of [their] house than it is to go outside” says Kelwick. But Kelwick decided not to stay inside. He and other members of his community stepped out with home-cooked food and crossed the police line, determined to speak to the people on the other side. The mosque has a history of opening its doors to rioters trying to attack it, ever since it was established in Victorian times by a Liverpudlian imam, says Kelwick, who has spent years working with the far right to try to find common ground and tackle misconceptions about Islam. “The vast majority of people on all sides have so much in common. And actually, when they sit down and talk, they realise that they are part of the same side.” Watch the video to find out more about why he believes talking to people, even in extreme circumstances, can help heal divisions. Thumbnail credit: Joel Goodman via LNP](/video/cover/7400718331818396961.webp)
